Planter



May 19; 1931. R. w. DICKESON PLANTER Filed Nov. 14, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet l muxa.

m. m w em m .fw n n, A D Q .Q P /W/ Q Y I l B S Q um kb ww www en um QN NJW ww huw May 19, 1931. R. w. DlcKERsoN PLANTER Filed Nov. 14. 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

May 19, 1931. R. w. DlcKERsoN PLANTER Filed Nov. 14, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 RW D z'ceryn/ INVENTOR.

A TTORNEY. 3

l May 19, 1931. R. w. DlcKERsoN PLANTER Filed Nov. 14, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR ATTORNEY J May 19, 1931. R. w. Dl'cKERsoN )1,806,389

Y PLANTER FledvNov. 14, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTORNEYJ accurately located,

Patented May 19, 1931 ,Wt1 FFCFE RALPH W- DICKERSON, or, Reason, 0.1110

PLANTER Application ieanovember 14, 1929,. sei-iai No. 407,212.

This inventionl seeks to'provide a simple mechanism which may be incunted upon a corn planter and effecty an even spacing of the hills in planting withoutthe use of theekn pensive, cumbersome and generally unsatisfactory check row wire. The invention has for its object the provision of mechanism whereby, during the. planting, of the first row ofI hills, the spacing of.A the hills will be Y and the indications whichlecate the spotswhere subsequent hills should b e planted will he thereafter utilized to actuate the seedfdropping mechanism. rlhe invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be hereinafter fully set forth and defined;

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a, side elevation of a planter having the present invention embodied therein, parts of theplanter mechanism being omitted-'forjthe sake of clearness,

Fig. 2 isa plan View of the same, F ig. 3 is a longitudinal section about on l the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig 4 is a detail-elevationof the actuating l devices adapted to run in the trenches defined by the markers for controlling the seeddropping mechanism, and

Figs. 5 to" 1,4; inclusive are detail viewsof various operatingelements.

`The, frame 1 ofthe planter is of` the usual general` formation and is supported upon ground wheels 2 and plows, a tongue t being secured to and projecting forwardly from the main frame to be coupled to a tractor orV permit the machine to be drawn by draft animals. Upon thecross bars constituting the front portion of the main frame are erected a plurality of arches 6 which provide supports for theprincipal operating mechanism, als4 will he hereinafter fully set forth, while seed boxes 7- are mounted upon the main frame andthe dropping shaft 8, disposed transversely of the main frame, is

connected with the seed-dropping devices in the usual manner to deposit the seed in the hills when it isoperated bv the mechanism which will be hereinafter described.

Upon the rear end of the main frame is mounted the4 marker shaft 49 and to said shaft, at the center thereof, is secured a stop wheel or disk, 1Q havingshoulders 1l dis-f posed across its periphery at iregular inter,- vals,lfoiir sheiillders beingillustrated inthe present instance, as clearly shown in Eigs. 3' andlO. Supported by frame members 12in front of. thestop-disk 10 isa guide block 13 in which is slidably mounted a stop pin 14 which is adapted toengage the shoulder 1l presented thereto and` thereby hold the disk against rotatien, The pin lisconnected at its front endwith the inner. endof a lever or. rocking arm 15which is 4disposed horizontally and` transversely upon the frame and ispiv-otedbetween its ends, as at 16. To the onter end: of the leverl ispivoted the rear endof a connecting rod 17 which eX- tends forwardly and hasl its front4 end pivotedgtoacrank 18on the droppen shaft 8.. 4A retractile spring 19, attached to the lever at the outer `side of its pivot andto the` frame in front of the lever, hold the pin 14 in engagement with the disk 10. By` this arrangement, whenever the dnopper.. shaft` is rocked mntion will beirnpartedtothe crank 18 to exert a pull through the intermediate elements upon the pin 111 to releasethe same from the stop diskso that the marker shaft may then make one quarter of a revolution, the end of the pin riding upon the periphery of the stop disk and automatically engaging the succeeding shoulder 11 under4 the iniuence of the spring 19 in an obvious manner.

Connected to each end of theA marker shaft 9 by a universal joint, shown at 20, is a marker arm 21 andy-at the outer. endof each arm 21 is secured a marking spider consisting of radial arms 22 and a plow 23` secured to the outer end ofeachrradial arm or spoke. A brace 24 extends between the outer end of eachmarker arm 21 and the forward portion of the main frame so that the arm will be prevented from swinging backwardly when at work although the universal joint will permit it to be turned into an upright 9 trench, indicated at 35, parallel with the line m of travel of the machine, the marker being held against rotation at this time by the engagement of the stop pin 14 with the stop plow 23 which has been making a trench willV rbe permitted to rise from the ground and simultaneously with such action the succeeding plow 23 will be brought into engagement with the ground, as will be understood upon reference to Fig. 13- The rotation `of kthe marker is caused by the resistanceoffered by thepsoil to the forward movementjof the plow,`and,l asthe machine continues to move forward, fthe plow will be thereby caused to move youtfof the ground and impart the stated quarter turn tothe marker and the marker shaft." The marker shaft consists-r of axiallyralined central and end members, as will be understood upon reference torFigs. 2 andy 1,1, thestop disk being secured upon the Central section. .Upon each endimember of thefshaft is secureda halfA clutch 25 andupo'n each'endjportion of the central member is aclutch sleeve 26 'which may slide endw'ise uponthe `shaft but is constrained to rotate therewith. Each clutchsleeve fis arranged toxmatewithr the adjacent half clutch 25. The clutch sleeves 26 are leachl provided 'with an annular groove 27 Vin? whichis engaged a fork or yoke' 28 Vdepending from an end f a connecting bar'29which isV disposed di'- rectly over the marker shaft and is slidably supported by the"'auxiliary"framel '302 Aj V.handllever 31 isfulcrumed onfthev auxiliary vframe .and extends'forwardly, its'rear Vlend being operatively connected with the ybar 29.

Byfshiftingy the hand leverl inl the proper direction on-e clutch sleeve' 26 will be caused toengage the mating.clutchv member 25 while at the opposite side the clutch members will be disengaged.l Ifthelever beset parallel withthe sides of the frame, as shown in Fig. 2, both 'clutches rwill ber'open and neither marker willyoperate.'Y Y Y 1 1 p Upon eaeh sideofthe mainframe there 1s I' secured a'propv 32fhaving a fork 33 'at its upperend and' having its-intermediate por` tion braced by 'fposts' 34. When either marker is'l i.nac tive,g its arm o'r shank rests in the fork ofthe adjacent prop so that it kwill be firmly held from fallingas lwillbe understoodiupon reference toFi gs. 1,2 and`3.' l

Bracesf36 arey secured to the tongue and divergerearwardly therefrom to the mainv 'i v framewhere they are secured to "brackets 37.

The front ends ofthe marker braces 24'fare engaged in eyes 3'8-at the rear ends of the braces 36l so that when a marker is at work thefpull will beV taken by the tongue.

l While the first row ofhills 1s being'plantL A edthe rockingof the dropper shaft 8 is accompli'shed'by-v power; 'transmitted' fromthe -mounted upon the rear sides of intermediate arches V6. A second sprocket wheel 43 is secured upon the shaft 42v alongside the sprocket 41 and a chain 44 is trained around the sprocket 43 and a similar sprocket 45 which is loose uponl a shaft 46 mounted upon the tops of the several arches 6. The sprocket 45 is loose uponthe shaft 46 but is fixed to one sidelof a clutch "drum 47 with which cooperates a clutch dog to be Ypresently described* A knocker 48 is secured' upon the shaft 42-which shaft operates continuously whenever the machine is in motion', and said knocker is disposed in the same longitudinal vertical plane i with a similar knocker V49 upon a rock shaft 50 which'is journaled in frame bars 51 secured upon the intermediate arches 6. lAs the knocker 48 movesk around with the shaft 42, it will, once in each rotation, impinge upon and swing the knocker 49, thereby rocking the shaft 50. Said shaft 50 is arranged almost directly under the shaft 46 vand a clutch dogf52 is secured upon the shaftO, a spring 53,'attached'to the frame and to the lower end of thedog, returning the rock shaft 50 to normal position after each actuation. The parts are so proportioned that the shaft 42 makes vone revolution while the machine travels three and one-half feet which is the standard spacing of planted hills. After the first row is planted, the kno'cker 49 is shifted to oneside, as indicated fby the dotted'lines'in Fig. 6, and the knocker 48 will then run idle.

The clutch drum 4'? is constructed'with a fiange 54 onitsside remote from'the'sprocket 45and pocketsy 55 are provided through the entire extent of the concave surface of the' flange. A clutch lever 56is Yfixedto the shaft 46 and a pawlj57 is pivoted tothe sideofthe lever'adj acent the free-end thereof, said pawl having a projection 58 on its side'adapted to seat'in any one of the pockets 55 and thereby lock the drum to the shaft whereupon the rotation-of the drum will be imparted to the shaft and the seed-dropping vmechanism will be actuated. Aspring-59 urges the pawl to the flange 54 and the free end of the clutch dog extends into thep'athof the pawl so' that as the drum completes a revolution the pawl will impinge against the end ofthe dog and be lifted out of engagement with the flange and held out of engagement until the rock shaft is again actuated andl thedogthereby in Eig. 8. The disk is provided with an ec* centric tappet 63 on one side, anda plate or. arm 6,4 is secured to and extends across the upperI end of, the rod.6l, the rear cndof said arm being pivoted to a part ofthe frame, as

' indicated at 65 in Eig. 8, while the front end thereof is doubled on itself` to form a free leaf 66 extending into the path` of the tappet so that once in each revolution of the shaft 46 the tappet will ride on said leaf anddepress the rod 6l` to rock the dropper shaft 8.

After, the first row of hills is planted., the dropping ofl seed is controlled by mechanism mounted on the tongue or steering pole 4. Pivoted to and extending above and below. the tongue is a lever. or rocking beam 67.V which extends rearwardly below the tongue and` isequippedwith a roller 68 at its rear extremity, the beam being so formed that the rollery may. travel` in the trenches 35 directly under the tongue. Pivoted on the under side of the tongue 4 iniadvance of the beam 6 7 is ast-andard or shank 69 itted with a plow or scraper 7 0 at. its lower end. This scraper and, its `standard or shank are dis posed in. the samelongitudinal plane as. the roller 68 seas torun in the trench 35 ahead of the trench in which the roller. travels, and a cable 7l is attached at its forward end to the shank or standard 69 near the upper end thereof and passes over guide pulleys 72 mounted on the. under side of the draft tongue to be attached to thefront end of thebeam 67, as shown, in Figs. 1, 3` and 4.

The action of. themarker is to form an interrupted trench or a series of alined short trenches separated by knolls 73 of earth, and the distancebetween the points of the marker plows 23 is the same as the distance between the point or. tip of the scraper and the vertical plane of the axle of theroller 68 when the parts are in their. working., positions. The scraper 70 is, therefore, adapted to run in the trench preceding the trench. in which the roller 68 is traveling and will` lift., from the trench any` stones or small clods which may have fallen into the same so` that the roller will have aclear road when'it, in turn, enters the sametrench. The'front of the roller will, of course, engage the knoll 73 at the forward end of the trench just before the scraper 70reaches the knoll at the forward eind of its trench and when thef roller im. pinges against the knoll 73, it will ride up on the same, as shown in Fig. 4sothat the beam 67 will be, swungto exert a.` pull upon the shank 69 to swing theV same` upwardly and rearwardly and permit the scraper 70 to clear the correspondingknoll.V Vhen. the beam 67 is rocked, as just described, an impulse is transmitted to the seeddropping shaft to actuate the same. While. the first row of hills is. being planted, oneindicating marker will be lowered and it willbe caused to rotate and leave a. knoll. each time a hill is planted, the knolls being alined transversely of the line of travel of the machine. iVhen the machine reaches the end ofthe field and starts on its return trip, the draft tongue is brought into position directly over the line of knolls andtrenches which will then serve as a guide in steering the machine. The previously inactive marker is then lowered and the knocker 49 is shifted to an inoperative position, whereupon, as the machine is driven back. across the field, the roller 68 will be caused to ride in the several trenches and over the` successive knolls and operate the seed-dropping shaft. The result is that seeds will bedropped in line with the previously plantedi hills and a second line of trenches willbeformed parallel` with the iii-st line of trenches.

As before stated, the beam 67 extends above the tongue 4. To the upper extremity of the beam is pivotally connected the front end of a link 74 which has its rear end pivoted to a rocking frame75 which is supported on the front of the intermediate arches 6 said frame consisting of a pair of vertically disposed bars pivoted between their ends upon the support and connected in spaced relation at their ends by transverse bolts, as will be understood upon reference to the drawings.

The link 74 is connected to the frame 75 bel low the fulcrum thereofby a removable pivot pin or bolt 76 and, to attain balance and re sisttwisting, the link is disposed midway between the sides of the frame 7 5 and the pivot' for its front end is carried by the upper extremity of the beam 67 and by a, rocking support 77 which corresponds in all essential respects to the upper portion of the beambut is disposed at the opposite side of the tongue, the beam and the arm being secured to the tongue by the same pivot bolt 78. -While the fir-st row of hills is being planted, there are no trenches in which the roller 68 may run, `and the pivot pin 76 is, therefore, removed, permitting the link 74 to drop, toand rest on the lower fastening bolt 79 and disconnecting the beam from the seed-dropping mechanism. As the roller 68, at this time, rideson the surface of the ground, it will be elevated and will hold the clearer blade 7 0 in its raised position.

When the planter is being moved. to and from the field, the plows or shoes 3 are raised several inches above the ground and the actuating beam 67 tends to trail along the ground. To avoid this condition, provide the supporting bracket 80 consisting of a bar secured on the tongue in advance of the beam and having a longitudinal slot 81 in its rear end, the beam being provided with a pin or bolt 82 playing in the slot. Uien the shoes 3 are raised, the member 67 will merely swing until the pin 82 impinges against thc end of the slot 8l and the beam will then rise to the same height as the shoes. Vhen the device is operating, the bolt 82 plays to and fro in the slot l81. Secured at therear of the rocker frame 7 5 is a bracket 83 which consists of a plate projecting vupwardly and rearwardly and arranged to guid-e and support a plunger. or knocker plug 84 which is pivoted to the frame 7 5 above the fulcrum thereof and eX- tends rearwardly therefrom. VSecured upon -v the rock shaft 50 in the path of the plunger 184C is a crank 85 whereby, when the plunger moves rearwardly, the shaft 50 will be rocked to release the clutch'dog 52 and'permit' the seed-dropper shaft to be actuated. `When the clutch dog is released, the crank 85 will have been pushed rearwardly. to sucha position that the plunger will ride overy and Ybeyond it and permit the' rock shaft and the parts carried thereby to instantly return to normal position under the influence of the springY 53. It will be understood, of course, that when the roller 68 rides onto a yknoll 73 the upper end of the actuator beam 67 swings forward and pulls the lower end of theframe l 75 in the same direction, the upperend of the frame rocking rearward and actuating the plunger, as described. j

Whenthe planter was at work with the lshoesorplows 3 in the ground, the drivingv chain l0 has, heretofore, been loose but when the shoes were raised lfrom the ground the chain was' tight.v I have overcome this diiiculty ina very simple manner. rIhe shoes or plows 3 are raised and lowered by manipulation of the usual hand lever y86 which has an arm 87 at its lower end. Upon this arm I have secured a bolt 88 extending under the u pper run ofthe, chain and equippedwith a roller 89. vWhen the shoes are lowered, the lever stands uprightand the arm 87 is approximately'horizo'nt'al so vthat the roller engages and supports the'upper run of the chain in a This is standard equipment and need not be removed whenfniyv invention is applied; it is only'indicated in a generalV waywith its de-` `Having thus described Ythe invention, I claim: f

1, In aplanter, meansfor forming a line of trenches separated by knolls', seed-dropping mechanism, a controlling device adapted to run in the line of trenches and over said knolls, means lactuatedfby said device for operating the seed-droppingrv mechanism, and a clearer? arranged ,to run in a trench in ad- Vance of the trench receiving the said controllingpdevice. for clearing theiirst-mentioned trenclnsaid'clearing device being operatively connected with the controlling device to be lifted Vfrom the trenchprior to reaching a knoll at the end of the same.

2. In a planter provided with a tongue, means for forming aline of trenches separated by knolls, seed-dropping mechanism, a rocking beam supported on the tongue, .a roller carried by the rear end of said beam to run in the Yline of trenches and over the knolls, a clearer adapted to run in a trench in.

yplanter frame, of a marker shaft mounted on the rear end ofthe frame, markers connected tothe ends of the marker shaft and each comprising a plurality of'spokes, and

plows carried by the free ends of the spokes, means to prevent rotation of the marker shaft, seed-dropping mechanism, and means controlled by the seed-dropping mechanism to release the last mentioned means and permit rotation of the'marker shaft at intervals.

4:. In a planter, the combination with a planter frame, vof a markershaft mounted at the rear end of the frame, a marker connected to the end of the shaft-and comprising a vplurality of spokes, andplows carried by the free ends'of the spokes, a stop disk fixed'upon the marker shaft, seed-dropping mechanism, astop pin yieldably held in en'- gagement with the stop disk, an'dmeans controlled by the seed-droppingvmechanism for releasing said pin at intervals.A Y

5. In a planter, the combination with the planter frame, of a marker shaft mounted at the rear end'of the frame, a ymarkerconnected with the shaft'and consisting of a plurality of spokes andplows carried by the free ends of the spokesa stop disk secured upon the marker shaftand provided with yshoulders across its periphery, a stop pin mounted in front of the'stop disk, yieldable means for holding the pin normally in en- Vgagement with a shoulderon the stop disk,

seed-dropping mechanism including a dropper shaft having a crank arm, and a connection between said crank arm and the stop pin whereby the stop pin will be'withdrawn from the stop disk at intervals.-V

' `6. In a planter, the combination of a marker shaft, a stop disk secured upon the marker shaft and having shoulders Vformed across its periphery'at intervals, a stoppin slidably mounted in front of the disk and normallyengaging a. shoulder thereonto prevent rotation of the disk and the'marker shaft,a transverse leverl fulcrumed between its ends and having its inner end pivoted to the front end ofthe stop pin, a spring 'acting on said lever to hold the pin normally in engagement with the disk, a dropper shaft, a crank thereon and a `rod connecting said crank with the outer end of the lever whereby ifi@ the pin Will be withdrawn and the marker shaft permitted to rotate when seed is dropped.

7. In a planter, the combination of a dropper shaft, an operating shaft mounted above the dropper shaft, means for rotating the operating shaft at intervals, a disk on the operating shaft, a pin on the side of said disk, a crank on the dropper shaft, a rod rising from said crank, and an arm pivoted at one end and provided at its opposite end with a free leaf disposed in the path of the pin, the arm being secured to and extending across the upper end of the rod.

8. In a planter, the combination of a dropper shaft, an intermediate shaft operatively connected therewith, means for rotating the intermediate shaft, a. rock shaft, means on the rock shaft to hold the intermediate shaft against rotation, a rocking beam at the front of the planter actuated by knolls on the ground, and means controllgd by said beam to actuate the rock shaft and release the holding means.

9. In a planter, the combination of a dropper shaft, an intermediate shaft operatively connected therewith, means for rotating the intermediate shaft, a rock shaft, means on the rock shaft to hold the intermediate shaft against rotation, a rocking beam at the front of the planter actuated by knolls on the ground, a rocking frame on the planter frame, connections between the lower end of the rocking frame and said rocking beam, a crank on the rock shaft, and a plunger carried by the upper end of the rocking frame and arranged to impingel against said crank for actuating the rock shaft and releasing the holding means.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. RALPH W. DICKERSON. [1.. s] 

